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<h2>
<font color="#336699">Background</font></h2>
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<br>&nbsp;
<h3>
<font color="#CC3300">Historical background</font></h3>
To facilitate adoption of the distributed Grid Computing model, Sun Microsystems
acquired Gridware, a private developer of Distributed Resource Management
(DRM) software, in July 2000. With this acquisition Sun was able to facilitate
the deployment of compute farms, the basic building blocks of grid computing,
by releasing Sun Grid Engine as a free downloadable binary for Solaris
and for Linux. In the first nine months following the product's introduction
Sun had over 9,000 <a href="http://www.sun.com/gridware">free downloads</a>
of Sun Grid Engine software, and interest in the technology grew.
<h3>
<font color="#CC3300">Grid Engine project objectives</font></h3>
The Grid Engine open source project further extends Sun's commitment to
enable the Grid Computing model. The project has the following objectives:
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Technology evolution and adoption</li>

<br>Grid Computing is about making large amounts of compute power available
for applications and users. Collaborative development of Grid Engine technology
provides the proper development framework to ensure that Grid Engine technology
meets the requirements of the largest number of users. And as Bill Joy
of Sun said, "Innovation happens elsewhere". Open source invites participation
and ideas, and the collaborative nature of open source development is a
proven approach to building high quality code which addresses user needs.
<br>&nbsp;
<li>
Open standards</li>

<br>In the absence of standards, Independent Software Vendors (ISVs) have
been understandably reluctant to directly interface their applications
to DRM software. The Grid Engine project will foster the creation of new
open standards for DRM, focusing initially on a community effort to develop
a standard API for application integration. ISVs would only have to 'write
once' to be able to use any compatible DRM system, and integration tasks
would be eased for the end user.
<br>&nbsp;
<li>
Market infrastructure</li>

<br>A strong base of channel participants for service and support can ensure
that everyone will benefit from the Grid Computing model. Today, many organizations
use internal staff to deploy and maintain compute farms. As the technology
is gaining acceptance, the need for service providers in the market is
increasing. Open source provides a franchise to all market participants
unlike any other business agreement or license mechanism. All open source
licensees have full and equal participation in the project and in the community,
and will have all the resources necessary to fully utilize Grid Engine
in implementing integrated solutions.&nbsp;</ol>
Whether your requirements range from high-throughput computing to high
performance computing, the Grid Engine open source project makes available
a proven, commercial-quality system for distributed resource management.
We welcome your involvement!&nbsp;</td>
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